Telly hardman Danny Dyer has turned into a big softie with his new grandson Santiago.
The EastEnders star’s daughter Dani, 24, has revealed he is often on the verge of tears around the tot.
Love Island winner Dani explained: “He’s been so emotional around Santi. Literally the other day he was nearly crying.”
She said Danny – Albert Square’s Mick Carter – told her: “I love babies and that, like other people’s babies, but your baby.
“I’ve never felt anything like this, I didn’t think I would feel like this.”
Influencer Dani had little Santiago with her beau Sammy Kimmence in January after a long labour.
The newborn is actor Danny’s first grandchild, at the age of 43.
He is known for playing hard men on TV and in films.
The East End icon appeared as a rough hooligan in Football Factory and a drug dealer in The Business.
He encountered his fair share of thugs in the documentaries The Real Football Factories and Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men.
But it appears grandson Santiago has turned him soft.
Daughter Dani continued: “I think it has hit him more now [the baby is born], because he would just see me pregnant and getting bigger.
“For him, seeing me with a baby it’s real now.”
Dani was telling the Made by Mammas podcast about new life as a mum at a special event for The Baby Show Live @ Home.
She explained how her and boyfriend Sammy Kimmence were quite shocked when she fell pregnant.
Dani said: “It was a bit of a random surprise, it was just so overwhelming for us.
“I remember he was downstairs, playing on Fifa, and I thought I’m gonna take a pregnancy test.
“You know every time you are late on your period you’re pregnant – it was that sort of thing.
“And I remember going: ‘Babe, I’m pregnant.’
“I didn’t even tell him I was going to take the test, and he just ran and said ‘really’ with the game console in his hand.
“It was a very exciting time for us.”
Dani explained she had always wanted to have a baby in her 20s, as her parents Danny and Joanne were young when they had her.
“I think at first they were quite shocked,” she said.
“I’m always quite secretive, I keep things to myself.
“It wasn’t so much we were planning it, it was so random.
“I didn’t want to tell my mum straight away, but I did tell her anyway.
“She said: ‘You look different.’ And I said: “Mum I’m pregnant.”
“I didn’t want to tell my dad until the scan, but my mum was like you need all your support around you because it is such a scary time.”
EastEnders continues on Monday at 8.05pm on BBC.